Shopping Cart Adapted to Receive Elongated Items

ABSTRACT

There is provided a shopping cart adapted to receive elongated items. The shopping cart includes a frame having an upper portion and a lower portion. A plurality of wheels are connected to the lower portion of the frame. The shopping cart includes an upper basket attached to the upper portion of the frame and a lower basket attached to the lower portion of the frame. The upper basket and lower basket are each open at the top and each is formed from a plurality of vertical and horizontal wire segments which form a plurality of windows. The upper basket has a front wall with a slot therein. The slot has a top portion and a bottom portion with the top portion being open so as to receive and retain an elongated item. The bottom portion of the slot extends down at least a portion of the front wall. The lower basket has a back wall with at least one major open for receiving an elongated item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of nonprovisional patent applicationSer. No. 12/004,254 filed Dec. 19, 2007.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to shopping carts. More particularly, it relatesto shopping carts which are adapted to receive elongated items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Shopping carts have been provided with both upper and lower basketsattached to the frame to carry items which are purchased at a store.With the advent of large warehouse-type shopping stores, it is nowcommon to purchase large items, including elongated items such as pipe,lumber, fence posts, landscape timbers and trees. However, conventionalshopping carts are not designed to carry elongated items. For thisreason, some of the warehouse-type shopping stores provide dollies whichare merely rectangular pallets supported on wheels, having large “U”shaped vertical handlebars in the rear thereof. A disadvantage of thesepallets is that they are very large and can not be nested and occupy alarge space in the aisles and, consequently, are usually stored outsidethe store. This can cause several secondary problems such as the palletsbeing stranded in the parking areas, causing damage to automobiles. Thepallets can also be stolen and can also cause injury to persons' legsand ankles. A disadvantage of using a conventional shopping cart inthese warehouse-type stores is that elongated items are often placed inthe basket and protrude outwardly thereof from the sides, which mayinterfere with the normal operation of the cart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one form of this invention there is provided ashopping cart adapted to receive elongated items. The shopping cartincludes a frame having an upper portion and a lower portion. Aplurality of wheels are connected to the lower portion of the frame. Theshopping cart includes an upper basket attached to the upper portion ofthe frame. The upper basket is open at the top. The upper basket has afront wall. A slot is formed in the front wall of the upper basket. Theslot has a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion of the slotis open to receive a portion of an elongated item. The bottom portion ofthe slot extends down at least a portion of the front wall. A lowerbasket is attached to the lower portion of the frame. The lower basketis open at the top. The lower basket has a front wall. The front wall ofthe lower basket extends beyond the front wall of the upper basket.Preferably one end of the elongated item rests against the floor of thelower basket with the other end of the elongated item extending abovethe upper basket wherein the slot in the upper basket retains a portionof the elongated item.

In accordance with another form of this invention there is provided ashopping cart adapted to receive elongated items. The shopping cartincludes a frame having an upper portion and a lower portion. Aplurality of wheels are connected to the lower portion of the frame. Theshopping cart includes an upper basket attached to the upper portion ofthe frame. The upper basket is open at the top. The vertical andhorizontal wire segments form a plurality of windows. The upper baskethas a front wall. A slot is formed in the front wall of the upperbasket. The slot has a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portionof the slot is open to receive an elongated item. The bottom portion ofthe slot extends down at least a portion of the front wall. The width ofthe slot is less than one-half of the width of the front wall.

In accordance with yet another form of this invention, there is provideda shopping cart adapted to receive elongated items. The shopping cartincludes a frame having an upper portion and a lower portion. Aplurality of wheels are connected to the lower portion of the frame. Theshopping cart includes a lower basket. The lower basket is attached tothe lower portion of the frame. The lower basket is open at the top andis formed from a plurality of vertical and horizontal wire segments. Thevertical and horizontal wire segments form a plurality of windows. Thelower basket has a back wall. The back wall has at least one majoropening for receiving an elongated item. At least one of the windowsbeing adjacent to the major opening. The area of the major opening beingsubstantially greater than the area of the adjacent window.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is set forth inthe appended claims. The invention itself, however, together withfurther objects and advantages thereof may be better understood inreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a shopping cart of the subject invention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the shopping cart of FIG. 1 with elongateditems received in the shopping cart;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the shopping cart of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the shopping cart of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view of the shopping cart of FIG. 1 with anelongated item received in the shopping cart.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1-5, there is provided shoppingcart 10 having frame 12. Frame 12 includes upper portion 14 and lowerportion 16. Four wheels 18, which may be castors, are connected to lowerportion 16 of frame 12. Upper basket 20 is attached to upper portion 14of frame 12, preferably by welding the upper basket to the frame.

The top 22 of upper basket 20 is open for receiving items such asconsumer goods. Collapsible baby seat 24 is attached to back wall 26 ofupper basket 20. Upper basket 20 is preferably formed from a pluralityof vertical and horizontal wire segments 28 and 30. Back wall 26 ishinged at the top to a horizontal wire segment, thus forming a gate, sothat the carts may be nested. The vertical and horizontal wire segmentsform a plurality of windows 32. Front wall 34 of upper basket 20includes slot 36 formed therein. Slot 36 is preferably somewhat “U”shaped. One of the windows is adjacent to said slot 36. The area of theslot is substantially greater than the area of its adjacent windows. Thetop 38 of slot 36 is open and the slot is adapted to receive and retainan elongated item, such as elongated item 40 shown in FIG. 2 orelongated item 41 shown in FIG. 5. The elongated items shown in FIGS. 2and 5 are hollow plastic pipes. However, it could be most any elongateditem which does not conveniently fit in a prior art shopping cartbasket. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, one end of elongated item 40extends out of the upper basket 20 and the other end of elongated item40 rests on the floor of upper basket 40. In the embodiment of FIG. 5,one end 43 of elongated item 41 rests against the floor 60 of lowerbasket 48 and the other end 45 extends above upper basket 20, while ofportion of item 41 is received in and retained by slot 36 in basket 20.The embodiment of FIG. 5 shows how shopping cart 10 may be used to carryvery long items without interfering with the normal operation of theshopping cart.

The top edge 42 of wall 34 of upper basket 20 is formed by one of thehorizontal wire segments 30A. Wire segment 30A also forms a border forthe slot 36 including bottom 44 of slot 36. Preferably, the bottom of 44slot 36 only extends partway down the wall 34 and is above the floor ofupper basket 20. The width of slot 36 is preferably small enough so thatmost normal elongated items, such as a hollow plastic pipe or piece oflumber, will not move side to side very much while the shopping cart isin use. Preferably, the width of slot 36 is less than half of the widthof wall 34. The shopping cart also includes handle 46 which is used bythe consumer to push the cart and preferably is part of upper portion 14of frame 12.

Shopping cart 10 also includes lower basket 48 which is attached tolower portion 16 of frame 12, preferably by welding. Lower basket 48 isalso constructed by a plurality of vertical and horizontal wire segmentsillustrated as 50 and 52. Lower basket 48 includes side walls 54 and 56and front wall 58 and rear wall 60. The front wall 58 of lower basket 48extends beyond the front wall 34 of upper basket 20. This extension ofthe front wall of the lower basket enables the shopping cart to readilycarry elongated item 41 shown in FIG. 5 since the elongated item is ableto contact the floor 68 of the lower basket and lean against the upperbasket through slot 36. In addition, this construction enables thecustomer to more easily place heavy loads, e.g., 5 gallon buckets, intothe shopping cart by using the open lower basket 48.

The top of the rear wall 60 of lower basket 48 is hinged to a horizontalwire segment. The remaining portion of the rear wall not being attachedto the shopping cart so that the rear wall forms a gate. Thus, theshopping cart may be readily nested by pushing the front wall 52 of onecart into the rear wall 60 of another cart. Floor 68 of lower basket 48slopes upwardly from rear wall 60 to front wall 58 so as to enhance theshopping cart's ability to be nested with another shopping cart.

Rear wall 60 includes major openings 62 and 64. At least one window,such as window 66 formed by horizontal and vertical wire segments, isadjacent to each major opening 62 and 64. Each major opening 62 and 64has an area which is substantially greater than the area of its adjacentwindow 66.

Major opening 62 and 64 are adapted to receive elongated items such aslumber 70 and 72 shown in FIG. 2. One of the ends of the elongated items70 and 72 would normally rest against floor 68 of lower basket 48 andthe other ends extend out of the rear wall 60 of lower basket 48.

The width of the front wall 58 of the lower basket 48 is less than thewidth of the rear wall 60 of the lower basket 48. Thus, the left andright side walls 54 and 56 of the lower basket 48 taper inwardly fromthe rear wall 60 to the front wall 58. The upward sloping of the floor68 and the tapering of the sidewalls 54 and 56 also helps the shoppingcarts to readily nest.

From the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is apparent that many modifications may be made therein.It should be understood however, that this embodiment of the inventionis an exemplification of the invention only and that the invention isnot limited thereto. It is to be understood therefore that it isintended in the appended claims to cover all modifications as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A shopping cart adapted to receive elongated items comprising: aframe; said frame including an upper portion and a lower portion; aplurality of wheels connected to the lower portion of said frame; anupper basket; said upper basket attached to the upper portion of saidframe; said upper basket being open at the top; said upper basket havinga front wall; and a slot in said front wall; said slot having a topportion and a bottom portion; the top portion of the slot being open soas to receive a portion of an elongated item; the bottom portion of theslot extending down at least a portion of the front wall; the width ofthe slot being less than one-half of the width of the front wall.
 2. Ashopping cart as set forth in claim 1 wherein said upper basket has afloor; the bottom portion of said slot being above the floor of saidupper basket.
 3. A shopping cart as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidupper basket being formed from a plurality of vertical and horizontalwire segments; said vertical and horizontal wire segments forming aplurality of windows; at least one of said windows is adjacent to saidslot; the area formed by said slot substantially greater than the areaformed by its adjacent window.
 4. A shopping cart as set forth in claim1 wherein said slot is substantially “U” shaped.
 5. A shopping cart asset forth in claim 3 wherein a horizontal wire forms at least a portionof the upper edge of the front face of said upper basket and extendsaround said slot forming a border for said slot.
 6. A shopping cart asset forth in claim 1 further including a lower basket attached to thelower portion of said frame; said lower basket being open at the top andbeing formed from a plurality of vertical and horizontal wire segmentsforming a plurality of windows; said lower basket having a front face;said front face of said lower basket extending beyond the front face ofsaid upper basket.
 7. A shopping cart adapted to receive elongated itemscomprising: a frame; said frame including an upper portion and a lowerportion; a plurality of wheels connected to the lower portion of saidframe; an upper basket; said upper basket attached to the upper portionof said frame; said upper basket being open at the top; said upperbasket having a front wall; and a slot in said front wall; said slothaving a top portion and a bottom portion; the top portion of the slotbeing open so as to receive a portion of an elongated item; the bottomportion of the slot extending down at least a portion of the front wall;a lower basket attached to the lower portion of said frame; said lowerbasket being open at the top; said lower basket having a front wall;said front wall of said lower basket extending beyond the front wall ofsaid upper basket.
 8. A shopping cart as set forth in claim 7 whereinsaid lower basket includes a floor; said floor of said lower basketadapted to receive one end of an elongated item with the other end ofthe elongated item extending above said upper basket.
 9. A shopping cartas set forth in claim 7 wherein said upper basket has a floor, thebottom portion of said slot being above the floor of said upper basket.10. A shopping cart as set forth in claim 7 wherein said upper basket isformed from a plurality of vertical and horizontal wire segments; saidvertical and horizontal wire segments